Environmental Entomology (1982) 11, 421-425

C.C. Blickenstaff and P.M. Jolley (1982)
Host plants of western bean cutworm
Environmental Entomology 11 (2), 421-425
Abstract: The western bean cutworm, Loxagrotis albicosta (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is native to the western United States. It was first recognized as a pest of beans, Phaseolus vulgaris L., and corn, Zea mays L., in Colorado and Idaho, and later farther northward and eastward. Early workers found larvae feeding on fruits of nightshade, ground cherry, and tomato, and speculated that these may have been the original hosts. By feeding larvae on these plants and close relatives of beans and corn, we found beans and corn to be the most suitable hosts, and some close relatives of beans to be suitable hosts. Ground cherry, black nightshade, tomato, soybeans, and teosinte were not suitable hosts. Corn and beans are probably the original hosts, since they are native to the area.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Striacosta albicosta		U.S.A. (SW)
	Striacosta albicosta	Maize/corn (Zea mays)	U.S.A. (NW)
	Striacosta albicosta	Beans (Phaseolus)	U.S.A. (NW)